Istanbul
The City of Delight
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stanbul: A world center of great value in the past as well as in the present, Istanbul embraces Asia on the one hand and Europe on the other. Istanbul, with its historical peninsula, numerous scenic and historical beauties is a magnificently unique city that has been capital to many civilizations from past to present and still continues to be home to residents from all over the world. This rooted city, with a history dating back to 300 thousand years before, constitutes a mosaic of many civilizations and cultures combined. One may come across legacies and monuments of thousands of years behind any door or around any corner in Istanbul. Whether you take a round tour in Istanbul or visit any of the 39 districts nearby, you will catch hold of various historical and natural wonders any minute.
You may begin your Istanbul tour at the Grand Bazaar that will enchant you with its bright and pleasant environment while a sense of peace and security will wrap you tightly in Hagia Sophia. A tour of the pearl of the Bosporus, Ortaköy, Beşiktaş and Kabataş will let you enjoy the delightful views along the deep blue coast. With the Black Sea in the north, the Marmara Sea in the south and the Istanbul Strait running in all its glory through the middle of the city, you will experience great moments in Istanbul and witness the unique combination of the Mediterranean and Black Sea climates. You may encounter a hot and humid weather in the summer and a cold and snowy weather in the winter. Watching the flying seagulls at Eminönü by the time the rising sun illuminates the city, you will notice the docked boats rocking
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gently as if to greet you. What’s more, you won’t be able to resist the fresh scent of the city when the first ray of lights illuminate the shimmering fishes swimming around the fishing twines. The setting sun illuminates the city like a painting every evening. The candle- like silhouettes of the mosques rise above the historical peninsula to greet the city while the sun and the moon salute each other as the day turns into night. Right at that moment you will feel like a sultan in the cradle of civilizations. Bridging two continents, this unique city, where one can encounter people from different countries and witness diverse cultures merging in harmony, will awaken completely different feelings in you.
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The Best Sights in Istanbul
asilica Cistern : The city’s most unexpectedly romantic attraction, the Basilica Cistern, offers an insight into the complicated system that once brought drinking water into Istanbul from Thrace (an area of the south-east Balkans now constituting Turkish land and the European mainland, and a chunk of Bulgaria). Constructed in the sixth century and then forgotten for centuries, the cistern that once stored the water has been fitted with lights and music. Fish flitter around the bases of the 336 columns that support the ceiling. Don’t miss the upside-down head of Medusa that forms the bottom of one column, proof that Byzantine builders saw Roman relics as little more than reusable rubble. The name of this subterranean structure derives from a large public square on the First Hill of Constantinople, the Stoa Basilica, beneath which it was originally constructed. Before being converted to a cistern, a great Basilica stood in its place, built between the 3rd and 4th centuries during the Early Roman Age as a commercial, legal and artistic centre. The basilica was reconstructed by Illus after a fire in 476. Ancient texts indicated that the basilica contained gardens, surrounded by a colonnade and facing the Hagia Sophia. According to ancient historians, Emperor Con-
stantine built a structure that was later rebuilt and enlarged by Emperor Justinian after the Nika riots of 532, which devastated the city. Historical texts claim that 7,000 slaves were involved in the construction of the cistern. The enlarged cistern provided a water filtration system for the Great Palace of Constantinople and other buildings on the First Hill, and continued to provide water to the Topkapi Palace after the Ottoman conquest in 1453 and into modern times. The cistern is surrounded by a firebrick wall with a thickness of 4 metres (13 ft) and coated with a waterproofing mortar. The Basilica Cistern’s water came from the Eğrikapı Water Distribution Center in the Belgrade Forest, which lie 19 kilometres (12 mi) north of the city. It traveled through the
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971 metres (3,186 ft)-long Valens (Bozdoğan) Aqueduct, and the 115.45 metres (378.8 ft)-long Mağlova Aqueduct, which was built by the Emperor Justinian. The cistern has the capacity to store 100,000 tons of water, despite being virtually empty today with only a few feet of water lining the bottom.The weight of the cistern lies on the columns by means of the cross-shaped vaults and round arches of its roof. The Basilica Cistern has undergone several restorations since its foundation. The first of the repairs were carried out twice during the Ottoman State in the 18th century during the reign of Ahmed III in 1723 by the architect Muhammad Agha of Kayseri. The second major repair was completed during the 19th century during the reign of Sultan Abdulhamid II. (1876– 1909).
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yasofya : After decades in which scaffolding cluttered the interior of Emperor Justinian’s sixth-century Byzantine masterpiece, the thrill of being able to experience the extraordinary spaciousness of this famous churchturned-mosque-turned museum is hard to overstate. Downstairs the building is largely empty; the best of the glittering mosaics lurk in the galleries upstairs. Newly
opened are the tombs of several early Ottoman sultans and their slaughtered sons – before primogeniture new sultans immediately had all potential rivals killed. Before the end of the year, the city’s finest carpets will go on display in the soup kitchen added after the church was turned into a mosque. Ayasofya was converted from a mosque into a museum by Atatürk
in 1935, after a painstaking restoration led by Thomas Whitmore of the Byzantium Institute of America. Mosaics and icons that were previously defaced or whitewashed were rediscovered and restored. While this enduring symbol of Byzantium still has the power to instill awe after so many additions and reconstructions (including tombs, schools, and soup kitch-
ens during its tour of duty as a mosque), the exterior’s original architecture is marred by large and boxy buttresses; you’ll get more of a representation of the intent of Justinian’s original from the inside. On your way in, notice the stone cannonballs lining the gravel path of the outer courtyard. These are the actual cannonballs used by Mehmet the Conqueror in his victorious 1453 battle for
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the city. Also outside the main entrance are the foundations of the original church built by Theodosius. The main entrance to Ayasofya leads to the exonarthex, a vaulted outer vestibule that was reserved for those not yet baptized. The inner narthex, or vestibule, glistens with Justinian’s original gold mosaics embellished with floral and geometric patterns. The most
central of the nine doors leading into the nave of the church, called the Imperial Gate, is topped by a mosaic of the Christ Pantocrator holding a book with the inscription “Peace be with you. I am the Light of the World.”
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opkapi Palace : If there is one absolute must-see in Istanbul, it has to be the Topkapi Palace, home to generations of sultans and their wives, who were closeted in the famous harem. A collection of lush green courtyards and delicate kiosks, the Topkapi boasts a treasury to put the crown jewels in the shade, as well as views to die for over the Sea of Marmara, Bosphorus and Golden Horn. The secretive harem – really just the family quarters – is a warren of lushlytiled rooms wrapped round a gem of a Turkish bath. Try to visit on a day when no cruise ship is in town to avoid the worst of the crowds. Topkapi is the largest and oldest palace in the world to survive to our day. In 1924 it was turned into a museum at Atatiirk’s request. Situated on the acropolis, the site of the first settlement in Istanbul, it commands an impressive view of the Golden Horn, the Bosphorus and the Sea of Marmara. The palace is a complex surrounded
by 5 km of walls and occupies an area of 700,000 sq. m at the tip of the historical peninsula. Following the conquest of the city in 1453, the young Sultan Mehmet moved the capital of the empire to Istanbul, His first palace was located in the middle of the town. The second palace, which he built in the 1470’s, was initially called the New Palace, but in recent times it came to be known as the Topkapi Palace. Topkapı is a classical example of Turkish palace architecture. It consists of treeshaded courtyards, each serving a different purpose and opening onto one another with monumental gates. The courtyards are surrounded by functional buildings. From the time of its construction, the palace developed constantly with alterations and additions made by each sultan. When the sultans moved to the ostentatious Dolmabahçe Palace in 1853, Topkapı lost its importance as the official royal residence and
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was left to deteriorate. It finally regained its former unpretentious beauty after fifty years of continuous restoration in the Republican era. Most of the objects exhibited in the palace today are unique masterpieces.
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lue Mosque : Facing Aya Sofya across a small park and mirroring its domed silhouette, the early 17th-century Blue Mosque is one of only a handful of mosques in the world to boast six minarets. Is it really blue? Well, not noticeably, although all the walls are papered with fine İznik tiles. To view it as the architect, Sedefkar Mehmed Aga, originally intended, enter via what looks like the side entrance from the Hippodrome. Afterwards, pop your head into a building the size of a small mosque on the corner of the complex. This houses the tomb of Sultan Ahmed I, the man who gave his name to both the mosque and the neighbourhood.
This imperial mosque is an example of classical Turkish architecture, and it is the only mosque that was originally built with six minarets. It is surrounded by other important edifices of Istanbul, built at earlier ages. Istanbul is viewed best from the sea and the mosque is part of this magnificent scenery.
One of the most famous monuments of Turkish and Islamic art, the mosque is visited by all who come to Istanbul and gains their admiration.
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Although it is popularly known as the Blue Mo s q u e , its real name is Sultan Ahmet Mo s q u e . Befitting his original profession, its architect Mehmet Aga decorated the interior fastidiously like a jeweler. Built between 1 6 0 9 1616, the mosque used to be part of a large complex, including a covered bazaar, Turkish baths, public kitchens, a hospital, schools, a caravanserai, and the mausoleum of Sultan Ahmet. Some of these social and cultural buildings have not survived to our day.
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alata Tower : Watery Istanbul is a city that cries out to be viewed from on high, and you can get a bird’s-eye view of everything from the balcony at the top of the Galata Tower in Beyoğlu, the modern part of old Istanbul that, in preRepublican days, was home to the city’s foreign residents. Built in 1348, the tower once formed part of a sub-city belonging to the Genoese that stretched right down to the Bosphorus. In a footnote to aviation history, it was from this tower that Hezârfen Ahmed Çelebi flew across the Bosphorus from Europe to Asia in 1638, thus inaugurating the first ever intercontinental flight. Galata Tower has dominated Beyoğlu’s skyline since 1348 and still offers the best panoramic views of the city. Above, the Golden Horn, Seraglio Point and Old Istanbul as seen from Galata Tower (looking south). Originally named the Tower of Christ, the 66.9-meter (220-foot)high tower was the highpoint in the city walls of the Genoese colony called Galata. Most of the walls are long gone, but the great tower , with its 3.75-meter (12-foot)thick walls remains. The story is told of how, in 1638, a certain Hezarfen Ahmet Çelebi attached wings to his body and flew (more likely coasted) across the Bosphorus to Üsküdar. Why he did it once, no one says, nor whether he survived... Until the 1960s it was a fire lookout tower. Now the upper floors hold the panorama balcony.
The panorama balcony, encircling the highest row of windows, is narrow, open to the weather, and not recommended for anyone suffering from acrophobia (fear of heights). In the past few years, however, the entire district from the Galata Tower uphill to Tünel Square, with its Swedish Consulate-General, Deutsche Schule (German High School), and other Ottoman-era institutions, has been extraordinarily gentrified. Now you find chic cafés, art galleries, design firms, boutiques, and restaurants in its narrow streets. This is becoming a neighborhood where foreign visitors come and rent apartments/flats to enjoy the sights, sounds, flavors and pleasures of Beyoğlu. The nine-story tower is 66.90 meters tall (62.59 m without the ornament on top, 51.65 m at the observation deck), and was the city’s tallest structure when it was built. The elevation at ground level is 35 meters above sea-level. The tower has an external diameter of 16.45 meters at the base, an 8.95 meters diameter inside, and walls that are
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3.75 meters thick. There is a restaurant and café on its upper floors which command a magnificent view of Istanbul and the Bosphorus. Also located on the upper floors is a night club which hosts a Turkish show. There are two operating elevators that carry visitors from the lower level to the upper levels.
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urkish and Islamic Arts Museum : Housed in what was originally the palace of Ibrahim Pasha, a favourite grand vizier of Suleiman the Magnificent, and overlooking the Hippodrome where Byzantine lovers of chariot racing once brought the same passion to their sport as modern Turks do to football, this museum houses a magnificent collection of gigantic carpets from all over the country. Its basement features reconstructions of everything from a fullyfitted nomad tent to a grand interior from a 19th-century Bursa mansion. Don’t leave without trying a thick black Turkish coffee in the pretty cafe in the grounds. The Museum of Turkish and Islamic Arts was the first museum in Turkey to bring together works of Islamic art. It was founded in 1914 as the Museum of Islamic Foundations and housed in the Imaret building of the Süleymaniye Complex, built by the great
Turkish architect Sinan in the 16th century. The museum was renamed the Museum of Turkish and Islamic Arts after the declaration of the republic and moved to its present location in the 16thcentury Ibrahim Paşa Palace in 1983. The core collection of the museum comprises Islamic artworks collected from across the Ottoman Empire at the beginning of the 20th century. These works include carpets, manuscripts, metalwork, glassware, ceramics, woodwork and ethnographic materials. The collection represents an extensive period ranging from the rise of Islam to the 20th century and the vast geographical area ruled by the Ottoman Empire. The carpets, numbering some 1,700, in their quality and variety constitute one of the most important collections of carpets in the world, so that the museum is sometimes thought of as a carpet museum. But the museum also
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has other outstanding collections: the manuscripts collection represents all the ruling Islamic states from the AH 1st / AD 7th century to the 20th century across a wide geographical area. The metalwork collection allows visitors to follow the development of Turkish metalwork in Anatolia and the rich collection of woodwork ranges from the AH 3rd / AD 9th century to the Ottoman period. The glassware and pottery collections include artefacts recovered during excavations at renowned Abbasid centres such as Samarra and Keshan (Iran) and Raqqa (Syria) as well as artefacts from the Anatolian Turkish period. The stonework, most bearing inscriptions, includes examples from the Umayyad, Abbasid, Mamluk, Seljuq and Ottoman periods. The
ethnographic department is the newest section. The museum also organises, hosts and participates in temporary national and international exhibitions. The Museum of Turkish and Islamic Arts is temporarily closed due to restoration works. It will re-open in April 2014, exactly 100 years after its foundation, with special exhibitions to celebrate its hundredth anniversary.
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stanbul Archaeological Museum : Walk to Istanbul’s three-inone equivalent of the British Museum via the grounds of Topkapi Palace or through Gulhane Park. If time is tight, go straight to the large porticoed building housing the glorious sarcophagus of Alexander which depicts scenes from the life of Alexander the Great in vivid 3D. Kids will love the model Trojan Horse in the children’s section. Then pop into the lovely Tiled Pavilion, one of the city’s oldest Ottoman structures, beautifully restored to show off its finest ceramics. Finally, catch a glimpse of a peace treaty from 1269 BC preserved in the part of the museum nearest to the gate. On the opposite side of the courtyard is this imposing neoclassical building housing an extensive collection of classical statuary and sarcophagi plus a sprawling ex-
hibit documenting İstanbul’s history. The main draws are two dimly lit rooms where the museum’s major treasures – sarcophagi from the Royal Necropolis of Sidon and surrounding area – are displayed. These sarcophagi were unearthed in 1887 by Osman Hamdi Bey in Sidon (Side in modern-day Lebanon). The Alexander Sarcophagus and Mourning Women Sarcophagus are truly extraordinary works of art. In the next room is an impressive collection of ancient grave-cult sarcophagi from Syria, Lebanon, Thessalonica and Ephesus. Beyond that is a room called The Columned Sarcophagi of Anatolia , filled with amazingly detailed sarcophagi dating from between 140 and 270 AD. Many of these look like tiny temples or residential buildings; don’t miss the Sida-
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mara Sarcophagus from Konya. Further rooms contain Lycian monuments and examples of Anatolian architecture from antiquity. The museum’s ‘Anatolia and Troy Through the Ages’ and ‘Neighbouring Cultures of Anatolia, Cyprus, Syria and Palestine’ exhibitions are upstairs, as is a fascinating albeit dusty exhibition called İstanbul Through the Ages that traces the city’s history through its neighbourhoods during different periods: Archaic, Hellenistic, Roman, Byzantine and Ottoman. It is likely that these exhibitions will be overhauled in the near future. The museum’s famed Statuary Galleries had been closed for renovation for a number of years when this book went to print and a completion date was not available.
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